Blockchain Meets Supply Chain: Rewiring Business Operations for the Digital Age

OVERVIEW

​International trade, and the supply chains that support global commerce, are still based on hugely inefficient and outdated processes and technologies to facilitate the movement of goods and related payments from suppliers to consumers.

By way of perspective, shipping association BIMCO estimates that cross­border trade is valued at $17 trillion annually, and that on average, shipments require 36 original documents, 240 copies and the involvement of 27 entities. Managing the movement of goods is big business around the world.

For example, in its 27th Annual State of Logistics Report, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals estimates that U.S. business logistics costs reached $1.48 trillion in 2015, a 2.6% increase over the previous year. Clearly, there are opportunities to improve efficiency and even incremental improvements will result in significant cost savings.

Blockchain is one technology that shows great promise in tackling supply chain inefficiencies - both for the processing and management of goods through a supply chain (supply chain management) and related financial transactions (supply chain finance or trade finance).

There is, however, a disconnect – as is often the case with new technologies. Many supply chain management and finance executives are unfamiliar with blockchain technology. . Meanwhile, blockchain technologists lack experience and subject matter expertise in the often arcane world of supply chain operations.Blockchain Meets Supply Chain: Rewiring Business Operations for the Digital Ageaims to bridge the technology/application gap between the world of supply chain management and finance. ​This is the first eBook to focus on the convergence of blockchain technology and supply chain management.